As the old adage goes, “Even a blind squirrel will find an acorn – eventually.” And after scratching for meaningful victories across the Big 10, the SEC, and the ACC; Jim Chaney has finally found his acorn – beneath an oak tree in Athens, GA. Recently, the Georgia Bulldog offensive coordinator has been riding a wave of success unparalleled in his previous 17 years as a college football OC. Young talent has overshadowed incompetence; and enthusiasm has blinded reality. But with a look behind the curtain, one can quickly deduce that Jim Chaney, the OC, may be the Achilles Heel of the Georgia Bulldogs football program.
Examine the facts. Prior to 2017, the Bulldogs’ heralded OC had a 13-60 winning record against Top 25 opponents. From 1997-2005 while the OC at Purdue University of the Big 10, he was 11-28: 1997 (2-2), 1998 (1-3), 1999 (2-5), 2000 (3-2), 2001 (0-3), 2002 (0-3), 2003 (2-3), 2004 (0-4), and 2005 (0-3).
From 2006-2008, Chaney had a short stint in the NFL. Then in 2009, Lane Kiffin brought him into the SEC as the new Tennessee Volunteer OC. From 2009-2012, Cheney went 1-18 against Top 25 challengers: 2009 (1-3), 2010 (0-5), 2011 (0-5), and 2012 (0-5).
In 2013 with Derek Dooley’s firing at Tennessee, Bret Bielema hired Sam Pittman as offensive line coach and Jim Chaney as offensive coordinator. Chaney lasted two years at Arkansas going 2-12 against a Top 25 schedule: 2013 (0-6) and 2014 (2-6). Probably not by his own choosing, Cheney left Arkansas for the Pitt Panthers. In his one season as OC at Pitt, he went 0-2 (2015) against the Top 25.
In the winter of 2015, Kirby Smart was hired as the head football coach at the University of Georgia. One of his first moves was an attempt to pull Dan Enos from Arkansas to be his new offensive coordinator. Enos was locked into a three year written contract with Arkansas. However; Sam Pittman was only locked into his contract by his word. One can only speculate than Kirby threw Chaney’s name on the wall to see if it would stick as an enticement. If Kirby would seriously consider hiring Chaney as his OC, Pittman may be more willing to make the jump to the “greener pasture”? Why not? Enos wasn’t available. And a head coach would much rather have the top OL coach in the country, and a top-notch recruiter, on his staff. You can live with a mediocre OC for a while, if you can lure Pittman. But all of that is pure speculation!
However; Chaney’s record isn’t. In the past 19 seasons, he has had 9 winless seasons against Top 25 opponents. In the seventeen prior seasons, fifteen of those were well below .500 against Top 25 foes. And even with the rich talent at Georgia, he is only 7-6 against those Top 25 teams.
Chaney knows what he is! Chaney knows what he has! And likely, Kirby Smart knows what he has in an offensive coordinator. The only problem for Georgia is, when one day Chaney is shown the door, will Sam Pittman breaks his word again for a different “greener pasture” and leave his players – begging him to stay.